When the pianist Junior Mance took part in recording sessions for two of the trumpeter's Verve albums as a member of the Dizzy Gillespie Sextet in 1959, he impressed producer Norman Granz so much that he spontaneously offered him the opportunity to record his own album for the label. For the then 30-year-old, who had already made a name for himself accompanying Dinah Washington and Cannonball Adderley, it was also the first solo album ever. With an ad hoc trio, Mance recorded a program of standards and original compositions that showed him to be a powerful swinging and bluesy pianist. /// VERVE BY REQUEST SERIES: remastered, audiophile 180-gram vinyl from Third Man Pressing / Detroit, gatefold sleeve.